10 Biggest (And Weirdest) Lawsuits In Star Wars History

Though the word "android" has been around for a couple of centuries at this point, it didn't start to become popularized until much more recently.

In fact, the original Star Wars is one of the mid-20th century works that is credited with bringing the word more into the forefront. More specifically, the shortened version, "droid", was first used by Lucas in that film, something that ended up leading to a rather bizarre legal standoff over 30 years later.

In the late 2000s, Lucasfilm actually trademarked the word "droid". Yes, really. This filing mentioned that it should cover all kinds of technology and devices - including mobile phones, computer software, and digital cameras - so when Verizon released its Droid line of mobile phones a short while later, the company had to seek Lucasfilm's permission to use that term. This permission was granted, and Lucasfilm received a cut of the profits on each phone sold. Easy money.

In 2010, Lucasfilm's lawyers opted to vigorously defend their droid trademark by sending a cease-and-desist letter to Matt Cooper, the CEO of digital advertising startup Addroid. Cooper reportedly contacted Lucasfilm and was told that the case wouldn't be let go without a fight, which seems more than a little bit harsh considering that nobody in their right mind would associate R2-D2 and C-3PO with a random advertising business.